{"id":2320,"date":"2026-04-02T07:38:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com\/sea\/legal\/?post_type=insight_resource&#038;p=2320"},"modified":"2026-04-02T07:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:39:25","slug":"state-of-the-corporate-law-department-report-2026","status":"publish","type":"insight_resource","link":"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com\/sea\/legal\/resources\/resource\/state-of-the-corporate-law-department-report-2026","title":{"rendered":"2026 State of the Corporate Law Department Report: GCs align strategy to corporate imperatives, but C-Suites want more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This article is adapted from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en-us\/posts\/corporates\/state-of-the-corporate-law-department-report-2026\/#You-can-download\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en-us\/posts\/corporates\/state-of-the-corporate-law-department-report-2026\/#You-can-download\">Why Every Legal Department Needs a Spend Management System<\/a>,\u201d originally published by Thomson Reuters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Corporate legal departments have embraced value, AI, and data-driven strategies to better align with their organizations\u2019 overall business goals, but a new report reveals a disconnect: C-Suite leaders want clearer proof of legal&#8217;s impact on business success<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Key takeaways:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em>A need to find new ways to demonstrate value<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Legal departments are under increasing pressure to do more with less, as nearly half of GCs surveyed cite staffing and resource constraints as their top barrier to delivering additional value. Despite these limitations, expectations from the C-Suite continue to rise.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>AI adoption accelerates, business strategy comes next<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Legal departments are rapidly embracing technology to improve efficiency, manage resources, and address cost pressures. Not surprisingly, the proportion of GCs calling AI a\u00a0<em>strategic imperative<\/em>\u00a0has doubled.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Disconnect between legal departments and C-Suite perceptions<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 While many general counsel believe their departments are significant contributors to business success, most C-Suite executives do not share this view. Fully 86% of GCs say they believe their department is a significant contributor, but only 17% of C-Suite executives agree.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past several years, general counsel and corporate law departments at large have transformed their operations. Many have become more efficient enterprises, leveraging technology, in particular AI, at an increased pace. GCs have adjusted their hiring practices to conform with the modern corporation, taking new ways of working into account. And they have embraced data-driven decision-making, evaluating outside counsel and their own operations alike with a wider suite of new metrics and KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But do you know who hasn\u2019t yet realized the fruits of that labor? The corporate C-Suite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2026 State of the Corporate Law Department Report<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/legal.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/insights\/reports\/state-of-corporate-law-department-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>2026 State of the Corporate Law Department Report<\/em><\/a>, released today by the Thomson Reuters Institute, reveals a disconnect between how GCs and their corporate law departments view their own alignment to the wider business, and what C-Suite executives believe the legal department contributes. Within this gap, the message is clear: GCs not only need to align with their organizations\u2019 overall business strategy, they need to learn how to&nbsp;<em>prove<\/em>&nbsp;that alignment to the rest of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, when asked how they view legal\u2019s contribution to the rest of the business, 86% of GCs surveyed said they viewed the legal function as a significant contributor. However, only 17% of other C-Suite executives said the same \u2014 and 42% said legal contributes little or not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en-us\/posts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/03\/SOCLD_FIG-1.png\" alt=\"corporate law departments\" class=\"wp-image-70048\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>As the report explains, this disconnect lays the inherent groundwork for the tension facing many GCs today. While they are increasingly aiming to align with business standards, the rest of the organization is not recognizing those actions. Instead, many C-Suites are looking for even more out of today\u2019s legal departments to prove their contributions to organizations\u2019 business imperatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As in past years, many in-house legal departments are being tasked to do more with less. Nearly half of GCs cited staffing and resource constraints as the top barrier they face to delivering additional value. Indeed, many said they expected outside counsel spend in some key areas \u2014 such as regulatory work and mergers &amp; acquisitions \u2014 to remain high. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, more than one-third (36%) of GCs said they expect to increase overall spend on outside counsel over the next year, while only 20% said they plan to decrease their spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Despite legal departments\u2019 gains, their C-Suites are looking for them to take the next step, turning operational excellence into business success.<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Not surprisingly, many GCs said they view technology as one of the primary ways they have to combat these resourcing and cost issues. In fact, the proportion of GCs mentioning technology as a strategic priority entering 2026 doubled over the year prior. Legal departments have begun to feel positive effects of AI in their own organizations, the report notes, such as increased efficiency or time feed up for strategic work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these gains, C-Suites are looking for are looking for their legal functions to take the next step, turning operational excellence into business success. This can take a number of different forms, such as explicitly tying advice to client business objectives, presenting legal spend in the context of the business by showing it as a percentage of revenue, or approaching risk management with the goal of aiding business imperatives. \u201cWhen we have a risky legal subject, the company never prefers just to see the legal opinion,\u201d said one retail GC. \u201cThey\u2019re also requesting you to drive them how to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AI and technology should also be approached in this same way, the report argues. Although almost half of all corporate legal departments have some type of enterprise-wide GenAI tool, according to the survey, very few are collecting success metrics around AI\u2019s implementation or linking its use to business revenue. Put a different way, many legal departments are focused on&nbsp;<em>unlocking&nbsp;<\/em>capacity, rather than&nbsp;<em>deploying<\/em>&nbsp;capacity in a business-centric way \u2014 much to the chagrin of their C-Suites.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en-us\/posts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/03\/SOCLD_FIG-6.png\" alt=\"corporate law departments\" class=\"wp-image-70049\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Although legal departments have established a solid foundation upon which a business can stand, ultimately, C-Suites don\u2019t want just a foundation. They want help building the entire house, the report shows, directly enabling the services that companies provide to customers. In that, GCs and legal departments have more work to do, not only tying strategy to overall business initiatives but actively communicating how the legal function\u2019s work aids the company as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get your complimentary copy of the <strong>2026 State of the Corporate Law Department<\/strong> report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article is adapted from \u201cWhy Every Legal Department Needs a Spend Management System,\u201d originally published by Thomson Reuters. Corporate legal departments have embraced value, AI, and data-driven strategies to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2322,"template":"","categories":[944,710,10],"tags":[44,954,251,343,353,356,357,425,543],"resource_type":[594],"insight_job_role":[595,607],"insight_practice_area":[],"class_list":["entry","author-legaladmin","post-2320","insight_resource","type-insight_resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","category-corporate","category-leadership-strategy","category-legal","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-corporate-law-departments","tag-general-counsel","tag-legal-market","tag-legal-service-delivery","tag-legal-technology","tag-legal-tracker","tag-practical-law","tag-westlaw","resource_type-full-report","insight_job_role-general-counsel","insight_job_role-legal-operations-manager","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State of the Corporate Law Department 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 2026 State of the Corporate Law Department Report reveals how GCs are proving value, aligning with the C\u2011suite, and integrating AI into legal strategy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com\/sea\/legal\/resources\/resource\/state-of-the-corporate-law-department-report-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State of the Corporate Law Department 2026 Thomson Reuters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2026 State of the Corporate Law Department Report reveals how GCs are proving value, aligning with the C\u2011suite, and integrating AI into legal strategy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/insight.thomsonreuters.com\/sea\/legal\/resources\/resource\/state-of-the-corporate-law-department-report-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TR - 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